Handmark opens Android software store

Today Handmark launched its own software store for Android smartphones. I tested out the new shop on a T-Mobile G1 to see how well it worked.

When I pulled up the www.Handmark.com website, two things came to mind. 1) It was’t showing me a mobile optimized website. 2) It didn’t realize that I was using an Android phone.

ADVERTISEMENT

I would have expected more than that, to be honest. But perhaps the company expects users to buy from a personal computer. That certainly works since Handmark sends a text message with a download URL to your phone so you don’t have to deal with it on the small screen.

In any case, I picked out Tetris and Par 72 Golf to try. The purchase process was a bit cumbersome on the G1’s browser, but it worked in the end. I didn’t get the text messages right away, though, so I used the site to send the messages over again. That time they arrived near instantly.

From there it was a simple download and install process, all of which took only 2 minutes. In no time I was using the games.

I haven’t had much time to play around with the games yet, but I can tell you that Tetris uses on-screen controls for play rather than the trackball. Par 72 Golf uses on screen swipes as well as the trackball. Both apps look quite good, but the 3D scrolling on Par 72 Golf is pretty chunky.

A gallery of the shopping/purchase/download/install process is included below.

It’s really weird, i’ve seen all sites as a web browser and not mobile optimized. Is it just the Handmark site or is it all sites?

http://www.androidauthority.com/ Stefan Frank

This issue is that Android is new and the browser’s user agent string (kinda like its name) doesn’t fit the mold for being obviously a mobile phone. It’s easy enough to fix, but each site will have to adjust. The thing is, I’d want the real/regular site most of the time. But for something like a software store, I’d rather neat and simple.